Community Navigator

Educational Alliance brings together and partners with diverse communities in Lower Manhattan, offering individuals and families high-quality, multi-generational programs and services that enhance their well-being and their socioeconomic opportunities. We are a place where everyone is welcome and where progress is powered one relationship at a time. We are proud of our legacy as a Jewish organization and we provide high-quality, transformational services and programs to all New Yorkers through our network of community centers on Manhattan’s Lower East Side and East Village. As we have for 130 years, we offer best-in-class programming–now across 15 sites—focusing on a mix of education, health and wellness, arts and culture, and civic engagement.

Educational Alliance’s Community Schools & Youth Development (CSYD) department plays an integral role in delivering high-quality youth development programming throughout the Lower East Side with services embedded in the school day, afterschool programs, and summer enrichment opportunities. In partnership with PS 64, PS 142, PS/MS 140, TSMS, and PS/MS 188, CSYD collaborates with the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD), NYC Office of Community Schools (OCS), The Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), and of course, our incredible local school communities, to continue to respond to the needs of young people and their families during the best and worst of times.

Job Purpose

The Community Navigator will work within our Community Schools programs to provide resources and services to asylum-seeking families. This is a school-based position serving three sites, and the chosen candidate will coordinate and collaborate extensively with an array of key stakeholders, including Community School Directors, School Leadership Teams, Parent Coordinators and Parent-Teacher Associations, School Social Workers, Attendance Teachers, Shelter Staff and other Collateral Organizations, and EA’s Family Resource Center in order to facilitate responsive, individualized plans for family engagement, intervention, and timely connection to needed services. The main purpose of the position is to increase family sustainability, and by strengthening families, the Community Navigator will contribute significantly to CSYD’s overall goal of enabling exceptional academic engagement, personal growth and positive social development.

Scope Of Influence

• Outreach to families, assess needs, and develop and deliver responsive intervention plans.
• Assist schools with the creation and management of resource hubs for food and clothing distribution and other basic living needs.
• Liaise with Family Resource Center (FRC) to connect families to services provided at the nearby Manny Cantor Center such as workforce development, parenting education, the Reloved Boutique, and ESOL classes, among others, and case-follow. Coordinate FRC programming on-site where feasible and appropriate.
• Advise both CSYD and FRC staff on the needs of individuals and families.
• Develop and nurture relationships with students’ families. The Community Navigator will be a trusted, reliable resource and a friendly accessible bridge between the shelter and school as well as the school and the FRC.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

• Work with CSYD and school staff to identify families in need of assistance.
• Maintain inventories of resource hubs supplies, work with community partners to obtain donations, and schedule family visits to each hub.
• Following the completion of training, provide in-depth information to families and recommend appropriate benefit resources to clients such as housing, SNAP benefits, WIC, cash assistance, medical insurance, social security and more.
• Assist families with obtaining needed supports to keep their children engaged at school. Inform CSYD staff of family and student characteristics and needs to promote students’ academic engagement. Provide in-depth information about FRC services and supports to family members.

• Provide routine follow-up with shelters and other collateral organizations for the purpose of reciprocal information sharing.
• Engage in ongoing dialogue with FRC team to evaluate effectiveness and accessibility of services and supports offered.
• Keep up to date on city policies and employment and housing options for asylum families.
• Complete and maintain documentation in a timely manner.
• Attend staff meetings and trainings as required by supervisor.